Navy has attempted two fewer passes over its past six games — 35 — than Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing completed in a single game against the Tigers last month. The Midshipmen will run and run, and their receivers will block for the run. Catching the ball is a peripheral duty.

The forward pass remains in Navy’s playbook, and it often yields a big-play result. Throws over the top of spellbound, ground-focused defenses have made the difference in past Midshipmen victories — quarterback Ricky Dobbs followed seven straight running plays with a 25-yard go-ahead touchdown pass in their 17-3 victory over Army — and will no doubt be attempted against one of the nation’s most porous defensive backfields.

“If a team’s crowding the line of scrimmage and their safeties are in the backfield attacking our pitch,” Niumatalolo said yesterday, “we’re going to throw it over their heads.”

So while Navy might run the ball two dozen times without a break, as it did in a 23-21 victory at then-No. 22 Notre Dame earlier this year, a more overlooked battle on the outside will play a critical role Thursday.

“The key to this game,” cornerback Kevin Rutland said, “is not going to sleep out there.”

Which, of course, is easier said than done.

For both receivers and defensive backs, maintaining focus in a triple-option offense can be difficult.

Start with Missouri, which outwardly doesn’t lack grounds for motivation. The Tigers, with a pass defense that ranks 109th nationally (261.6 yards per game), are seeking a dose of redemption after Reesing’s school-record 498-yard performance. They are also informed of the passing threat posed by Dobbs.

A former shotgun-spread quarterback who threw for 28 touchdowns his senior year of high school in Georgia, Dobbs has lent Navy’s flexbone a legitimate arm. The 6-foot-1, 198-pound junior’s average of 9.9 yards per pass attempt would lead the NCAA if he threw enough passes to be eligible, and he’s proven capable of burning major opponents.

Dobbs, who has thrown for 901 yards and five touchdowns, tossed a pair of touchdown passes in a 31-27 season-opening loss at Ohio State. And against Notre Dame, when the Irish began to hedge against the option late in the third quarter, he hit Greg Jones for a 52-yard touchdown.

Running remains his — and Navy’s — game. He rushed for 24 touchdowns, breaking the single-season record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback (23) held by Air Force’s Chance Harridge (2002) and Florida’s Tim Tebow (2007).

But, as Missouri Coach Gary Pinkel said he’s seen too often on tape, “You load up on that run, and they back up on the line of scrimmage and hit big plays.”

Missouri’s defensive backs, Rutland said, must resist the temptation to cheat away from Navy’s receivers. No matter if the Mids have been grounded for 40 straight plays.

“We have to make sure we’re not veering off and looking at other parts of the play,” Rutland said. “It’s going to be assignment football. We have a man, simple as that. If we’re caught doing anything else and the big play happens, there’s no excuses. We have to stay awake.”

On the other side, Navy faces a similar challenge. Its wideouts were all one-time high school stars, and while they attend school in Annapolis for reasons beyond football, day after day of blocking over route-running can be wearing. Navy’s leading receiver, tailback Marcus Curry, has only 190 yards on five receptions.

Junior Mario Washington, third on the team with 165 yards receiving, often jokingly tells Dobbs to audible into a pass play. So does senior Nick Henderson.

“Nick, he’s always saying, ‘When we get on the goal line, just check a fade,’ ” Dobbs said with a laugh.

Alas, the quarterback said he does not have veto power. He can change from a pass to a run, not vice versa. It is why Navy has thrown on just 96 of its 853 plays from scrimmage — and Niumatalolo has laid out a diverse role for receivers coach Danny O’Rourke.

“You have to be more of a coach,” offensive coordinator Ivin Jasper recalled Niumatalolo telling O’Rourke. “You have to be a Dr. Phil. You’ve got to be an Oprah. You’ve got to get our guys to stay motivated and get them to buy into it.”

Said Niumatalolo: “We don’t throw the ball very often. But when we do, we expect them to come down with it.”

And Missouri expects them to be covered.

“We just have to stay awake,” linebacker Sean Weatherspoon said.

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